Donie's Ireland news Blog Saturday

Donegal double killer Gallagher is released from Central mental hospital

    

Donegal’s killer of Mother and daughter John Gallagher was released from the Central Mental Hospital in Dublin yesterday, according to members of his estranged family who were contacted prior to his release.

Gallagher, who killed mother and daughter Annie and Anne Gillespie in the grounds of Sligo Hospital in 1988, was released just after 4pm following a review by the Mental Health Review Board.

Some conditions have been imposed on him. He is allowed to visit his mother in Lifford, Co Donegal, and his father’s grave, but has been banned from having any contact with members of the Gillespie family or estranged members of his own family.

A spokesman for the Gallagher family said they were distraught at his release. “We have had no say or we have not been able to put our case forward. We are living in complete fear of him and now he will be allowed to walk among us again. We do not think the authorities thought this through properly and we have never been consulted on the matter. If anything else happens then the authorities will have blood on their hands,” he said.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Justice said the Minister for Justice, Alan Shatter, understood Mr Gallagher had been granted conditional discharge. She said the board operated independently of the Minister, who had “no role” in its decisions.

Gallagher absconded from the Central Mental Hospital in 2000 having been found guilty but insane of the murder of the two women at his trial, held in 1989.

He has been living in Strabane, across the Border from his home place in Lifford, since 2003 but could not be arrested as he had committed no crime in that jurisdiction. He signed himself back into the Central Mental Hospital last month, where his case was reviewed as per the provisions of legislation introduced in 2006.

Irish Government to focus on three aspects of stimulus for economy growth

      

The Germany chancellor Angela Merkel with Taoiseach Enda Kenny during a meeting at the EU summit in Brussels yesterday.

The Irish Government is hoping that three elements of the planned EU growth pact will help to stimulate the Irish economy.

Those elements involve investment by the European Investment Bank (EIB) in worthwhile projects, flexible rules for an innovative scheme called project bonds, and new rules for drawing down unused structural funds.

It will take serious negotiation on all three issues to ensure that Ireland can derive maximum benefit from the growth pact.

Persuading the EIB to support substantial investments in bailout countries who can demonstrate that they are making progress in implementing their programmes would assist Ireland.

Redefining the nature of how EIB funds can be used and the purposes for which they can be applied is one of the objectives of the Government. The head of the EIB is due to visit Ireland next week and will meet Taoiseach Enda Kenny during his visit.

The Taoiseach has stated his intention of having a serious discussion with him about the progress Ireland has made since entering the EU/IMF programme and the hopes he has about availing of the new EIB funding.

Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore also pointed out the prospects of availing of EIB funding.

Project bonds represent another aspect of the growth initiative that could have an impact on this country if the rules governing them are sufficiently flexible. As first envisaged, these bonds would be of no help to Ireland because they are designed for big transnational infrastructure projects such as autobahns or rail lines.

Ireland’s status as an island nation means that major transnational projects are not an option and, in any case, they are more applicable to the big economies such as Spain and Italy.

Nonetheless, the move to develop the project bonds idea is welcomed by Irish officials as it has potential to stimulate growth across the EU and there is a belief that the scheme can be adapted for smaller countries.

A third element of the package which the Government is hoping can be of use is a change in the rules governing structural funds. Ireland has spent all of the structural funds that were available but not all of the other countries entitled to use them have done so.

Mr Kenny said Greece, for instance, had been allocated €16 billion in structural funds which had not been spent as it did not have the capacity to put up co-financing.

He has expressed the hope that a creative way to apply unused structural funds can be found through negotiation. Under current rules, structural funds cannot be taken out of an envelope that is allocated to one particular country and given to another.

The number of Ireland’s carers increases by 22,000 as nearly 600,000 claim a disability

  

The number of people listed as being carers in Ireland has increased by 21,967 to a total of 160,917, according to the latest census figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

Currently, 4.1 per cent of the population are now listed as being carers, after the census office more broadly defined who is and is not one.

“In the past the census only asked about people who were carers and over the age of 15. Now they looked for people who were 15 and over,” Catherine Cox of the Carers Association told TheJournal.ie.

A small minority of people may have defined themselves as carers in order to come off unemployment and claim the carers allowance, she said. However, the number was probably very minute she said.

“The difference between unemployment benefit and the carers allowance is €12. To get it you have to prove that you are doing 45 hours or more a week of caring. It is strictly means tested and you need to get a medical cert from your doctor.”

It is very difficult for someone to prove that they are a carer.

Elsewhere, the census report said:

A total of 595,335 people claimed to have a disability, up from 393,784 in 2006.
Broadband use in homes increased from 21.2 per cent in 2006 to 65.3 per cent in 2011
Car ownership rose to 1.36 million households having at least one car, up 186,000 from 2006.

Some 88% of Irish people consider themselves to be in ‘good health’

 

More than 60% of the Irish population consider themselves to be in very good health, according to the findings of the 2011 census.

The occurrence of health failing with age is reflected with just one in three people aged 65 and over saying they were in very good health, compared to 87 per cent of those aged between 10 and 14.

More than four million respondents (88 per cent) said their health was either very good (2.77 million) or good (1.28 million), with just 69,661 (1.5 per cent) reporting that they were in a bad (57,243) or very bad (12,418) condition.

Six of the seven counties where the best health was reported were in greater Dublin (excluding the city), with Cork the only county outside Leinster in the top seven.

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown residents rated themselves the healthiest in Ireland, while those in Limerick city reported the worst health.

In demographic terms, 76 per cent of social class one (professional workers) believed their health to be very good but this fell to just 45 per cent in class six (unskilled workers).

The proportion of the population with a disability increased from 9.3 per cent (393,785) in 2006 to 13 per cent (595,335) in 2011, up 201,550. The spike can be attributed to changes to the census disability question, which now includes ailments such as asthma and chronic pain, according to the CSO.

The number of people aged over 15 who classified themselves as carers rose by 13 per cent to 182,884. The number of male carers increased by 20 per cent to 72,999, but women carers continued to outnumber men at 114,113.

Researchers at NUIG Galway now developed a DNA test for TB

   

Researchers at NUI Galway develop DNA test for TB

Research from NUI Galway recently published in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology and PLoS ONE details a new DNA test for TB that can detect all bacteria associated with the disease.

According to the World Health Organisation, TB is one of the greatest killers due to a single infectious agent worldwide, second only to HIV/AIDS. In 2010, 8.8m people contracted TB, and 1.4m died from it.

More than 95pc of these cases occurred in developing countries, and optimal treatment for TB can vary depending on what bacteria is causing it.

TB is caused by a group of bacteria known as Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC). Some of these bacteria are naturally resistant to commonly used anti-TB drugs.

SEEK TB – AN INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION

The Molecular Diagnostics Research Group at NUI Galway has developed and validated a new assay, or laboratory test, called SeekTB, to identify all bacteria from MTC.

The new test could also help centralised clinical reference labs to track the disease and conduct epidemiological studies on the various bacteria species comprising the complex.

“Identifying the specific member of the MTC is currently not routinely performed in testing laboratories and therefore it is unknown what the true impact each member of the MTC has on the global TB epidemic,” said Dr Thomas Barry, who lectures in microbiology at NUI Galway.

Development of the test has been an international co-operation, as the technology was initially validated by Prof Dick van Soolingen in the Netherlands and Dr Stefan Niemann in Germany, and was used by Prof Alimuddin Zumla and Dr Matthew Bates in University College London to analyse patient samples from Zambia.

FURTHER RESEARCH COULD LEAD TO TESTING ON HANDHELD DEVICES

The test takes only 1.5-3 hours to complete and, in the future, could be configured to a handheld device for use at point-of-care in resource-poor settings. “This could be a huge benefit to medical care provision in remote areas,” said Barry. “However, it will likely take years of research and development to achieve such a goal.”

In its current format, SeekTB is likely to be predominantly used on culture-positive TB patient samples in central testing laboratories in places like Africa, to guide appropriate treatment and control measures.

Galway home records Radon gas at 19 times the acceptable level of 200 Bq/m3

    

Radon levels equivalent to 13 chest X-rays per day were identified in a home in Galway city, the highest level of radon gas ever discovered in a home in the county, according to the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII).

Radon levels at 19 times the acceptable level of 200 Bq/m3 were discovered in the home which was one of five dwellings in Co Galway. One home in Kerry also recorded levels of radon – a cancer-causing odourless, tasteless and colourless gas – at over 10 times this level.

A total of 341 homes were identified as having excessive radon gas levels. The majority, or 293 dwellings, had levels up to four times the acceptable level.

A further 42 homes had levels between four and 10 times the acceptable level, 31 of which were located in Galway; three in Tipperary; two each in Clare, Cork and Wexford; one in Kerry and one in Sligo.

Stephanie Long, senior scientist with the RPII, reiterated that Ireland has a significant radon problem, with some of the highest levels found in Europe:

“Our research indicates that there are more than 91,000 homes with high levels of radon and only about 7,500 have been found to date.”

Radon is the second biggest cause of lung cancer after smoking, and is directly linked to up to 200 lung cancer deaths in Ireland each year.

“Exposure to high radon levels causes lung cancer and many families are unknowingly living with a high risk to their health. People need to take the radon test and if high levels are found the problem should be fixed,” she said.

The RPII encourages people to test their homes for radon, which can be done by placing one radon detector in a bedroom and a second in a living room for a three-month period. The cost of a measurement stands at about €50. An interactive map is available on the RPII’s website rpii.iewhere people can do a search to see if their home or workplace is located in an area with high radon levels.

Donie's all Ireland news Blog Friday

Irish Bonds Rally as EU Bank Deal Fuels Hopes of Market Return

     

Irish government bond yields Friday fell sharply to levels last seen before the country was bailed out in late 2010, as investors anticipated a decline in the government's debt burdens as a result of measures agreed at the European Union summit in Brussels.

EU leaders late Thursday agreed to recapitalize Spain's beleaguered banks directly from the euro-zone's bailout funds, without piling more debt onto the Spanish state, and suggested that a similar program could be applied to Ireland.

The Irish government spent EUR63 billion recapitalizing and repairing its stricken banks, enabling them to repay their bond debts. If the euro zone's bailout funds were allowed to retrospectively finance the support the Irish government has given to the banks, that would significantly reduce its debts and could potentially pave the way for Ireland to regain access to bond markets.

Prime Minister Enda Kenny Friday hailed the move as a "seismic shift" for Ireland.

"What was deemed unachievable has now become a reality," he said.

Irish bonds rallied strongly, pulling the yield on the bond due October 2020--the closest Ireland currently has to a 10-year benchmark--three-quarters of a percentage point lower to 6.21%, according to Tradeweb.

The move means the Irish government could potentially borrow more cheaply than its Spanish equivalent, which for the time being retains access to the bond markets.

Ireland had to ask for 67.5 billion euros ($90 billion) in loans from the EU and the International Monetary Fund when it lost access to the bond markets in November 2010. Irish bond yields Friday hit their lowest level since shortly before that request for help was made.

"For Ireland, the euro-zone summit is a big deal," said economists at French bank BNP Paribas.

"The Spanish bailout highlighted the difference in the EU's treatment of Ireland, which to date has shouldered the full burden of its banking-sector recapitalizations. It seems other euro-zone members and the European Central Bank have at last conceded that such inequality is no longer tenable."

In its statement on Thursday night, the Eurogroup said it will "examine the situation of the Irish financial sector with the view of further improving the sustainability of the well-performing adjustment program."

EU leaders also said the European Stability Mechanism, the euro zone's permanent bailout fund, could be used to bailout struggling banks in the single currency area once a centralized supervisory body is set up.

The details of any restructuring of Ireland's bank bailout remain to be worked out. But the removal of EUR31 billion euros of promissory note--injected into collapsed banks including Anglo-Irish--from the national balance sheet "could make a very significant dent in its debt-to-GDP ratio", BNP said.

"In simple terms, Ireland's debt ratio could peak below 100%," the bank added.

Without relief on the bank debt, Irish government debt will reach 120% of GDP next year, and possibly hit a higher level in later years if economic growth remains sluggish. At those levels, bond investors would likely be reluctant to provide new funds.

Moreover, any easing of the annual promissory note repayments of EUR3.1 billion--similar to the amount by which Dublin is attempting to slash its budget deficit--would provide a welcome boost to Ireland's fiscal position.

Eamon Gilmore, Ireland's deputy Prime Minister, said the new steps could help avoid Ireland having to seek a second bailout once its current program of financial assistance ends next year.

"[The EU agreement] will have a real impact on our debt level and will greatly improve our ability to get back into the market," Gilmore told Irish broadcaster RTE Radio.

Moves to ease the burden of Ireland's bank debts would be a major boost for the government, which identified just such an agreement as its main objective on when it took office in February 2011.

Mr. Kenny has been frequently criticized by his political opponents for having been too "passive" in his dealings with other EU governments and the ECB on the issue, but has insisted that steady diplomacy rather than threats and ultimatums would yield results.

The government's bailout funds run out in 2013, and without access to the bond markets it would have little option but to seek a second bailout to fund it from 2014.

Earlier this month, the International Monetary Fund warned that despite making good progress under its bailout program, the government wouldn't be able to return to the markets unless the euro zone came up with a plan that promises to end its long-running fiscal drama. The Fund also backed the government's plea for a rescheduling of the promissory notes, saying that would significantly increase its chances of regaining access to the bond markets.

Euro Zone Leaders strive for fiscal unity & maybe a Joint Banking Union

   

Details of a plan for greater fiscal unity in the euro zone, including the creation of a sort of finance ministry for the currency bloc, began to emerge this week at a crucial meeting of European Union leaders eager to find a lasting solution to the region’s debt crisis.

The two-day summit of E.U. leaders, which began yesterday Thursday, had raised some hopes of a breakthrough in the two-year-old debt crisis that has escalated to threaten Spain and Italy, both of which face borrowing costs many believe to be unsustainable in the medium term. An auction last Tuesday of Spanish short-term debt confirmed the trend, with the issue selling out amid strong demand but at two to three times the cost of earlier auctions.

But expectations for a short-term solution have been lowered by Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, who has asserted that big changes such as issuing common debt will have to wait until countries that use the single currency have agreed to a broader revamp of the political architecture of the euro zone. Those changes could include surrendering more power over their budgets to European authorities in Brussels.

ITALY AND Spain on Thursday have urged EU leaders to take emergency action to contain their borrowing costs and raised the prospect that they may refuse to back Europe’s €120 billion growth plan if immediate steps are not taken.

The two countries, which are under mounting pressure on bond markets, made their plea on the opening session of a two-day summit in Brussels.

The meeting, which is expected to continue into the early hours, comes as Europe confronts mounting doubt over the rescue strategy for Spain’s stricken banks and anxiety that the turmoil could soon shut Italy out of private debt markets.

Tension was palpable in Brussels as leaders gathered for their fourth summit of the year and their 20th since the outbreak of the crisis in late 2009.

The summit, which will be followed by a separate meeting of euro zone leaders on today Friday, is expected to focus on agreeing on the elements of a banking union, which is seen as a concrete step even though it would not come into operation until 2013 at the earliest. Those elements would include a system to liquidate insolvent banks, a central deposit guarantee fund, and a bigger supervisory role for the European Central Bank, among other measures.

The leaders will discuss a paper, released last Tuesday, on the future of the euro zone that keeps open the possibility of issuing common debt so long as it is a gradual process accompanied by robust fiscal discipline.

The process towards the issuance of common debt, the document says, “would be accompanied with commensurate steps towards the pooling of risks.”

Under one scenario, national governments would have to agree on upper limits on their spending, in order to balance budgets, and on debt levels – and would then have to seek prior approval for exceeding those limits.

“Under these rules, the issuance of government debt beyond the level agreed in common would have to be justified and receive prior approval,” the document says. “Subsequently the Euro area level would be in a position to require changes to budgetary envelopes if they are in violation of fiscal rules, keeping in mind the need to ensure social fairness.”

The document, which sketches the path to a banking union, also discusses the possibility of the ultimate creation of a new “treasury office,” effectively a finance ministry for the euro zone.

The proposals will be outlined in a paper written by the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso the president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy; the president of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, and the head of the euro zone finance ministers, Jean-Claude Juncker.

Spain, along with Italy, is likely to press at the summit for more urgent action to lower borrowing costs, which are close to levels that might, if sustained, force the government in Madrid to seek a full bailout later in the year.

Italy, whose borrowing costs have also risen on fears its economy could be the next under attack, has already proposed measures to reduce the difference in borrowing costs between euro zone countries.

But Germany is determined that it should not finance a country that indulged in excessive spending, and the scale of the changes wanted by the government in Berlin has been made clear by the country’s finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble.

“In an optimal scenario, there would be a European finance minister, who would have a veto against national budgets and would have to approve levels of new borrowing,” Mr. Schäuble told the German magazine Der Spiegel over the weekend. He added that such changes might also necessitate a referendum in Germany.

But a big shift of power to Brussels would prove highly controversial for many countries inside the euro zone, none less than France, which fiercely defends its national sovereignty.

The European Commission, the executive agency of the European Union, is already expecting to gain powers that would permit it to question a country’s budget if public finances deteriorate.

Plans for a banking union will initially be proposed for all 27 E.U. nations, although Britain has said it will not take part. The British government is expected to be offered specific exemptions. Alternatively, a group of other countries might agree to go ahead with the plans without it.

Some of the details of the bank union plan remain vague, according to the draft document to be discussed at the summit. “A European deposit insurance scheme could introduce a European dimension to national deposit guarantee schemes for banks overseen by the European supervision,” it says, for example.

As the diplomatic pace intensifies ahead of the summit, France’s finance minister, Pierre Moscovici, said he would meet his German, Italian and Spanish counterparts in Paris on Tuesday. The leaders of the four nations met last Friday in Rome but without any significant breakthrough over how to end the most pressing problem: the rise in Spanish and Italian borrowing costs.

In the meantime, the backdrop to the upcoming summit has been worsening steadily. Spain filed a formal application on Monday for up to 100 billion euros, or $125 billion, in aid for its banks, whose balance sheets have been wrecked by a real estate crash. The tiny island nation of Cyprus also said Monday it would need assistance. The sums required for Cyprus will be much lower, but the request has some symbolic significance as the country is about to assume the rotating presidency of the European Union on July 1.

European stocks were down slightly by midafternoon, giving up gains from early morning after falling sharply on Monday. The Euro Stoxx 50, a measure of European blue-chips, was down 0.08 percent. European benchmark indexes were also down slightly.

The euro was at $1.2468, down from $1.2500 late Monday in New York.

Asian stocks were mixed, with the Nikkei 225-share index closing down 0.81 percent and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong up 0.45 percent.

The Spanish Treasury auctioned 3.1 billion euros of debt Tuesday, with the interest rate on 3-month bills was 2.36 percent, compared with 0.85 percent in the last such auction on May 22. The rate on the 6-month bills was 3.24 percent, up from 1.7 percent in May.

Dangerous Radon gas found in 341 Irish homes

  

A total of 341 homes were identified with high levels of radon gas in the first five months of this year, according to new figures by the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland.

The highest levels of the cancer causing gas were found in Galway, where 32 homes were found to have radon levels that were between four and ten times the acceptable level.

Other areas with similar readings included Tipperary (3), Clare (2), Cork (2), Wexford (2), Kerry (1) and Sligo (1). One home in Galway city was 19 times the acceptable level, the highest amount ever found in a home in the country.

According to the Institute, the occupants of the house were receiving the equivalent of 13 chest x-rays a day.

“Our research indicates that there are over 91,000 homes with high levels of radon and only about 7,500 have been found to date,” said Ms Stephanie Long, Senior Scientist at the RPII.

Exposure to high radon levels causes lung cancer and many families are unknowingly living with a high risk to their health. People need to take the radon test and if high levels are found the problem should be fixed.

Radon is the second biggest cause of lung cancer after smoking in Ireland and is directly linked to up to 200 deaths a year. Ireland is beleived to have one of the highest radon levels in Europe.

A revolutionary new drug can cut the risk of stroke for diabetics

   

A new drug could slash the risk of type 2 diabetes patients having heart attacks, research has revealed.

The revolutionary new treatment could help thousands of patients who do not respond to the commonly used first-line treatment, metformin,

Metformin can become ineffective in the long term for many patients, according to an article published online in The Lancet.

Patients are then offered a class of drugs that is known as sulphonylureas in addition.

However, these drugs can lead to low blood sugar levels that is known as hypoglycaemia, and weight gain, putting patients at increased risk of heart attack and stroke.

The new drug, linagliptin, results in significantly less weight gain and also less hypoglycaemia, experts from Tubingen University Hospital, in Germany, has found.

A Thursday news Ireland update

A vaccine jab that prevents & stops people from smoking for life being developed

     

The vaccine works by genetically engineering an antibody that filters out nicotine when it enters the blood

SCIENTISTS have invented a jab that takes the pleasure out of smoking, it has emerged.

Just one injection could provide lifelong protection from the cravings of nicotine and prevent the physical effects of smoking such as relaxation and lowering of the heart rate.

It could be used to "vaccinate" children from ever smoking and help smokers to quit.

Scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York have tested the vaccine on mice but could soon start human trials.

Mice which had been given the jab stayed just as active as previously, while those not administered with the vaccine relaxed and their blood pressure and heart activity lowered – classic signs nicotine had reached the brain.

Dr Ronald Crystal, professor of Genetic Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College and research leader said the jab could help committed quitters beat physical nicotine cravings.

He said: "They will know if they start smoking again, they will receive no pleasure from it due to the nicotine vaccine, and that can help them kick the habit.

"Smoking affects a huge number of people worldwide, and there are many people who would like to quit, but need effective help. This novel vaccine may offer a much-needed solution."

The vaccine works by genetically engineering an antibody that filters out nicotine when it enters the blood.

The body then replicates the antibody – creating a never-ending supply of immunity.

Dr Crystal said: "As far as we can see, the best way to treat chronic nicotine addiction from smoking is to have these Pacman-like antibodies on patrol, clearing the blood as needed before nicotine can have any biological effect.

"Our vaccine allows the body to make its own monoclonal antibodies against nicotine, and in that way, develop a workable immunity.

"While we have only tested mice to date, we are very hopeful that this kind of vaccine strategy can finally help the millions of smokers who have tried to stop, exhausting all the methods on the market today, but find their nicotine addiction to be strong enough to overcome these current approaches."

Studies show that between 70 and 80 per cent of smokers who try to quit light up again within six months.

Dr Crystal says the vaccine could be rolled out to non-smokers to prevent them starting in the first place, just as jabs are used to prevent infections.

He added: "Just as parents decide to give their children an HPV vaccine, they might decide to use a nicotine vaccine.

"But that is only theoretically an option at this point. We would of course have to weightbenefit versus risk, and it would take years of studies to establish such a threshold."

The team are planning to test the jab on rats, animals and then eventually humans.

The research was published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

The volume of Irish retail sales slightly down for May 2012

 
The CSO reported today that the volume of Irish retail sales (i.e. excluding price effects) decreased by 0.1% in May 2012 when compared with April 2012 and there was an annual fall of 2.1%. If Motor Trades are excluded, the volume of retail sales increased by 0.8% in May 2012 when compared with April 2012, while there was also an annual rise of 0.8%.
The sectors with the largest month on month volume decreases are Bars (-4.2%), Books, Newspapers and Stationery (-2.8%), Electrical Goods (-2.5%) and Motor Trade (-1.9%). A monthly increase was seen in Food beverages & Tobacco (6.5%), Hardware, Paints & Glass (6.3%) and Pharmaceuticals Medical & Cosmetic Articles (3.8%).
The value of retail sales decreased by 0.4% in May 2012 when compared with April 2012 and there was an annual change of –1.5%. If Motor Trades are excluded, there was a monthly increase of 0.7% in the value of retail sales and an annual increase of 1.5%.
Dermot O'Leary, chief economist of Goodbody Stockbrokers said:
May was a better month for retail sales but consumer spending is effectively bouncing along the bottom, with drivers to remain weak in 2012 and 2013.


Better month for sales in May…
While retail sales are volatile on a monthly basis, the trend since the start of the year is effectively flat. In May, retail sales volumes fell modestly (-0.1% mom), but our preferred core measure (i.e. excluding the motor trade) showed an increase of 0.8% mom. This follows an upwardly revised fall of 0.6% mom in April. On an annual basis, core retail sales also grew by 0.8%, improving from -2% yoy in April.
…but sales volumes are bouncing along the bottom -Weather effects can play a big role in these fluctuations. May 2012 was a better than average month for the weather, while May 2011 was particularly wet. With weather in June 2012 being wet we are likely to see a fall in sales this month. Due to this volatility, it is sometimes better to look at the level of spending rather than the change. The chart attached shows that after falling by 15% from the peak retail sales volumes are now fluctuating around this trough level.
A “green army” effect? -On an annual basis, the best performing category by far is “electrical goods” which was up by 9% yoy in volume terms and up by 3% in value terms. Despite still having to reduce prices to clear stock, there may be a “European Championship”effect at play here as demand increased for electrical goods ahead of the football finals. Annual volume growth was also experienced in five other categories (see table).
Drivers of spending still weak -The most important driver of consumer spending will be disposable income which in turn will be driven by employment, earnings and taxation. While we will undoubtedly see fluctuations on a monthly basis, the outlook for consumption is weak in Ireland for the next two years at least. In the short-term, continued uncertainty about the external environment is also likely to keep precautionary savings high in the short term also. We remain comfortable with our forecast of a decline in consumer spending for both 2012 and 2013.

Irish bank crash the worst & most costly since great Depression

     

Ireland’s bank crash is the most expensive and deepest of any economy since the Great Depression, says a new IMF report.

The fund said that Ireland is the only country to suffer from fiscal costs, increases in public debt and output losses due to a banking crisis. And it said there is no sign of conclusion in the debt crisis.

"Ireland holds the undesirable position of being the only country currently undergoing a banking crisis that features among the top 10 of costliest banking crises along all three dimensions, making it the costliest banking crisis in advanced economies since at least the Great Depression," according to the IMF paper, entitled Systemic Banking Crises Database: An Update.

"And the crisis in Ireland is still ongoing."

The authors believe that advanced economies have more options available to exit the downturn.

They also have more credibility with the markets, which allows them time to manoeuvre and use options such as bank guarantees.

"Deposit freezes, while rare, are most frequently used by emerging economies, whereas guarantees on bank liabilities are more common among advanced economies," the authors said.

"Guarantees are more common among advanced economies, perhaps because of generally better institutions and access to international capital markets, rendering the announcement of guarantees more credible."

Donie's news Ireland daily Blog

Yes they did shake hands after all?

Sinn Féin & Martin McGuinness accept’s the Queen’s hand in Belfast

    

Queen Elizabeth shakes hands with Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland Martin McGuinness watched by First Minister Peter Robinson at the  Lyric Theatre in Belfast yesterday.

You do not initiate a handshake with the British monarch. You wait for her to make the first move. And you don’t touch Queen Elizabeth without her permission.

These are the niceties of British-Irish relations that Sinn Féin must become familiar with, following yesterday’s historic events in Belfast.

All is changed, changed utterly, and the Provisional republicans have irrevocably gone from the clenched fist to the open hand.

The Lyric Theatre in leafy south Belfast was a suitable location for this much-heralded exercise in civility between the commander-in-chief of the British armed forces and the former poster-boy of the IRA.

The news media were kept at a good distance from Ridgway Street where the Lyric is located. It is indeed a rare occasion when a theatre audience are told they must stay away.

In the end, Queen Elizabeth and Martin McGuinness shook hands not once, but twice. The first was in a private room, unseen by most of the other invited guests at the Lyric.

Perhaps taking his cue from the queen’s cúpla focal at Dublin Castle last year, he greeted her with the words, “fáilte romhat”: you’re welcome.

No title was used, but when he turned to greet President Michael D Higgins, he uttered a more generous, “céad míle fáilte” (a hundred thousand welcomes) and added, “a Uachtaráin” (Mr President).

Could this be the beginning of a beautiful friendship between Derry and Buckingham Palace, like that famous moment at the end of the film, Casablanca? Will the British monarch and the Deputy First Minister now start exchanging text messages on a regular basis? Probably not: McGuinness likes to talk and he may have blown it by delivering a homily to the queen praising her visit south of the Border last year and stressing the importance of leadership in building peace.

Then, on the way out, there was a further handshake . The queen smiled and McGuinness, we are told, said “slán agus beannacht” (goodbye and a blessing upon you).

A woman who did not wish to be named was watching the proceedings from across the street. She arranged to stay overnight in her daughter’s house so she could see the whole thing.

But she wasn’t interested in the former IRA commander from Derry: “I love the queen, I really do, she is such a lady.” She shrugged when questioned about the encounter between the British royal and the Irish republican: “A handshake is a handshake.”

Queen Elizabeth has a sense of occasion: she wore powder blue in Enniskillen on Tuesday but yesterday it was lime green with, as a gesture to the artistic community, a quill in her hat. McGuinness wore a green tie.

The Duke of Edinburgh can always be relied on for a laugh, and he commented on the size of the scones at the reception. “Who eats those?” he quipped.

Given that the IRA killed his uncle, Lord Mountbatten (who was also the queen’s cousin) there was speculation he might not shake hands with McGuinness, but he did.

At one point, the Deputy First Minister circumvented President Higgins and made his way closer to Prince Philip as though wishing to engage in conversation.

However, the prince moved on smartly to join the queen and that was the end of that. Perhaps Lord Louis was watching.

A set of portraits by painter Colin Davidson was on show, along with some of the real-life subjects. Classical pianist Barry Douglas asked the queen: “Which is better, the real me or the painting?” The monarch replied diplomatically: “I don’t know, what do you think?”

Once portrayed in a TV documentary as Britain’s most dangerous man, McGuinness insisted on his way out that “I’m still a republican”, but, reflecting the new atmosphere, he added that the meeting with the queen was “very nice”.

Singer Dolores Keane gets her 3rd driving ban and four years with a fine of €300

    

Dolores Keane at Glenties District Court (above) yesterday. She is now on her third driving ban.

Irish singer Dolores Keane has been banned from driving for four years and fined €300 for drunk-driving.

Judge Paul Kelly yesterday paid tribute to Ms Keane for her involvement with the best-selling album A Woman’s Heart, and wished her the best of luck in her career.

Ms Keane (58), who is now on her third driving ban, told the judge at Glenties District Court: “Thank you very much.” She had admitted being nearly twice over the alcohol limit when driving outside the courthouse and less than 80m from the Garda station on March 26th, 2011.

The court was told it was her second drink-driving incident within a few months as she was already banned for three years for an offence near her home outside Tuam, Co Galway, in November 2010.

The four-year ban, which started yesterday, will run concurrently with the three-year disqualification.

Judge Kelly was also told that Ms Keane, who spent three months this year at an alcoholic counselling and treatment centre, was first banned from driving for two years in June 2000.

Garda Insp Dennis Joyce, prosecuting, said Ms Keane’s latest drink-driving occurred in March last year outside the courthouse in Glenties when gardaí received a report of a car being driven in an erratic manner on the wrong side of the road. Ms Keane was co-operative with gardaí.

Solicitor Eric Gleeson, defending, said Ms Keane had two children, one of whom was blind. “She drank all her life, which affected her health and wellbeing, and more recently began to drink heavily,” Mr Gleeson told the court.

This year she went on a 12-week alcoholic counselling and treatment course in a Cuan Mhuire centre and, at one stage, she was removed for treatment to hospital in Limerick.

Mr Gleeson added that she was now off alcohol and medication and “a lot more healthy” than when he first took instructions from her last year. She was getting her career back on track and there was a forthcoming tour.

Judge Kelly said to Ms Keane that it was obvious her being in court was “sufficient” punishment.  She replied: “Yes.”

The judge said: “I am sure you would rather be remembered for A Woman’s Heart and your other fine productions.”

He added that he wished her the best of luck with her continued career. She replied: “Thank you very much.”

The judge said he would impose only a fine instead of a prison or suspended prison sentence. He also banned her for four years.

“You are seriously in peril if you find yourself in this situation again,” he told her.

Ms Keane, Caherlistrane, Tuam, once more replied “thank you” as she left the court with a sister and her manager.

Donegal Priest found not guilty of indecent assault in Derry court

         

A Catholic priest who is originally from Moville, Co Donegal, has been found not guilty at the crown court in Derry of five charges of indecently assaulting a 14-year-old girl 20 years ago.

Fr Eugene Boland (66), the parochial house, Killyclogher Road, Omagh, was found not guilty yesterday of the charges by majority verdicts. He had denied claims he had indecently assaulted the girl in the parochial house at St Joseph’s parish in the Galliagh area of Derry between June 1990 and June 1992 when he was the then parish administrator.

The verdicts followed an eight-day trial before Judge Stephen Fowler and almost four hours of deliberation over two days by the jury. Following the verdicts, the complainant wept in court.

Through his solicitor Kevin McGuigan, Fr Boland told reporters the last three years had been a nightmare and he thanked the jurors for bringing that nightmare to an end.

Elderly woman from Ballyshannon dies after her car collides with lorry in Cliffoney Sligo

   

A Ballyshannon Co DONEGAL pensioner has died after a car crash on Wednesday afternoon @ about 1:30. The elderly woman of eighty  died when her car collided with a lorry near the village of Cliffoney in Co Sligo at around lunchtime yesterday.

The woman in her 80s was seriously injured when the car she was travelling in collided with a lorry on the N15 Sligo to Bundoran road near Cliffoney village at around 1.30pm today.

She was taken by ambulance to Sligo General Hospital where she was pronounced dead. The drivers of both vehicles were also taken to hospital.

Forensic collision investigators are at the scene and diversions are in place, Gardaí say.

They have also appealed for any witnesses to the collision to contact them at Sligo Garda Station on 071 915 7000, or the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111.

Two cups of coffee a day can reduce the risk of heart failure  (but five are not good for you)

       

Two mugs of coffee a day could help keep the heart healthy. A study has linked the drink with a lower risk of heart failure.

With up to 40 per cent of those affected dying within a year of diagnosis, heart failure has a worse survival rate than many cancers.

The latest research suggests that regularly drinking moderate amounts of coffee can cut the odds of cardiac trouble – though too much could be counter-productive.

Coffee may protect against heart failure by reducing the chance of developing diabetes, said scientists

Crunching together the results of five previous studies, involving almost 150,000 men and women, showed that those who enjoyed one or two mugs of coffee a day were 11 per cent less likely to develop heart failure than those who had none.

Heart attack survivors gained as much benefit as those with healthy hearts.

BUT DRINKING FIVE OR MORE MUGS A DAY APPEARED TO BE BAD FOR THE HEART, THE JOURNAL CIRCULATION HEART FAILURE REPORTS.

Researcher Dr Murray Mittleman, of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, said: ‘As with so many things, moderation appears to be the key here too.’

The researchers aren’t sure why coffee seems to cut the odds of heart failure, in which the organ, weakened by a heart attack or disease, struggles to pump blood around the body.

They say it may be because the drink reduces the likelihood of high blood pressure and of diabetes – both of which boost the odds of heart failure.

Dr Mittleman said: ‘It stands to reason that reducing one’s odds of developing either one of them,  in turn, reduces one’s chance of heart failure.’

Colleague Elizabeth Mostofsky added: ‘This is good news for coffee drinkers.’

Other recent research to hearten coffee drinkers includes a study that credited the drink with helping people live longer.

The US government-funded researchers found the more coffee you drink, the less likely you are to die from a number of different ailments.

These include heart disease, respiratory disease, stroke, injuries, accidents, diabetes and infections, but not cancer.

It is also known that some people inherit genes that make them more reliant on caffeine than others.

Those with the ‘caffeine addict’ genes, need to drink more coffee to get the same buzz.

Cheetah’s the gold medalist’s of sprinting cats

   

With the Olympics around the corner in London, we could see a few world records smashed.

But when it comes to sprinting, the cheetah is nature’s gold medallist. A new study in the Journal of Experimental Biology sought to find out more about why the cats are so fast by comparing them to the less speedy but still fleet greyhound.

By comparing force plate and high-speed video data of galloping cheetahs and greyhounds, the researchers saw that the cheetah’s stride length and frequency, and how the cat supports a greater percentage of its body weight on its hind legs at high speeds (18 metres per second) could be factors that help it outrun the dogs.

At the other end of the scale, there are plenty that could overtake Greenland sharks (Somniosus microcephalus). A separate study used data-logging tags on six of the fish and saw cruising speeds of 0.34 metres per second with “bursts” of up to 0.7 metres per second.

“We showed that Greenland sharks swim at the slowest speed for their size among fishes studied to date, presumably because of the depressing effect of cold polar waters on locomotor muscle functions,” write the study authors in the Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology.

The term “sluggish” springs to mind, but their lack of speed doesn’t seem to lead to a lack of dinner – Greenland sharks apparently attack live seals.

So why does their prey not just swim away? The authors hypothesise that the slow-moving sharks might target seals that are sleeping in the water to avoid polar bears.